C/1855 L1 (Donati)

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C/1855 L1 (Donati)
Discovery
Discovered by Giovanni B. Donati
Discovery site Florence, Italy
Discovery date3 June 1855
Designations
1855 II [1]
Orbital characteristics [2]
Epoch 17 May 1855 (JD 2398720.5)
Observation arc 14 days
Number of
observations
49
Aphelion 79.259 AU
Perihelion 0.5676 AU
Semi-major axis 39.913 AU
Eccentricity 0.98578
Orbital period 252 years
Inclination 156.871°
262.231°
Argument of
periapsis
22.488°
Last perihelion30 May 1855
Next perihelion~2097 [3]
TJupiter –0.726
Physical characteristics [4]
Comet total
magnitude
(M1)
11.3
8.0
(1855 apparition)

Comet Donati, formally designated as C/1855 L1, is a long-period comet that has an orbital period of approximately 252 years. [5] It was the second comet discovered in 1855, and the first of five comets discovered by Italian astronomer, Giovanni Battista Donati. [6]

Contents

Discovery and observations

The comet was discovered by Giovanni Battista Donati on the night of 3 June 1855, describing the comet without a nucleus nor a tail, which was seemingly fainter than Messier 13. [4] Independent observations were also made by Charles Dien, Jr. and Wilhelm Klinkerfues the following day. [7]

The comet was already on its outbound flight upon discovery, where observers noted it had faded significantly by June 14. [4] It was last observed from Germany on 30 June 1855. [5]

Orbit

The first orbital calculations by Karl Christian Bruhns and Donati initially yielded an orbital period lasting 493 years, [8] where the latter had concluded its similarity with C/1362 E1 and may had indicated its possible return to the inner Solar System. [4] However, in 1916, George van Biesbroeck later revised this to 252 years, with gravitational perturbations of Venus and Saturn being considered, and thus concluded that it is unlikely that the comets of 1362 and 1855 were the same object. [5]

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References

  1. "Comet Names and Designations". International Comet Quarterly. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  2. "C/1855 L1 (Donati) – JPL Small-Body Database Lookup". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. Jet Propulsion Laboratory . Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  3. S. Yoshida (18 September 2010). "C/1855 L1 ( Donati )". www.aerith.net. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 G. W. Kronk (1999). Cometography: A Catalog of Comets. Vol. 2: 1800–1899. Cambridge University Press. pp. 241–243. ISBN   978-0-521-58505-7.
  5. 1 2 3 G. van Biesbroeck (1916). "Definitive orbit of comet 1855 II". Astronomical Journal. 29 (686–687): 109–118. Bibcode:1916AJ.....29..109V. doi: 10.1086/104129 .
  6. "Giovanni Battista Donati". Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  7. W. J. Hussey (1896). "Comet 1855 II" (PDF). Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 8 (48): 91–93. Bibcode:1896PASP....8S..91H. doi:10.1086/121153. JSTOR   40670880 .
  8. G. B. Donati (1855). "Note on Comet II. 1855" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 16 (1): 14–16. doi: 10.1093/mnras/16.1.14 .